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“Everything okay?” I asked.

“No sign of our friend.”

“It’s not far away.” I could feel it close by. Skulking. “Any luck with the prints from the monsters it met with?” I’d sent Kai and Zeke out to see if they could find the other monsters.

Kai shook his head. “I tracked them into the forest, but the ground got too dry, and I lost them.”

He was the best tracker I’d ever seen. He had an uncanny ability to read tracks and signs, to sense things. An ability he’d no doubt inherited from his alien mother. Selena Rahia’s species had been the enemies of the Gizzida and she’d been takenprisoner. Kai’s father, Tane, had rescued her and they’d fallen in love.

Selena had all kinds of amazing skills, all linked to nature. While Kai and his sister hadn’t inherited all of their mother’s abilities, they still had ingrained skills I knew had to have come from their mom.

If Kai couldn’t track the monsters, no one could.

“Okay, keep me posted. I’m going to check on Maxim.” I strode inside the workshop, my eyes adjusting to the lower light. We needed this weapon. The sooner the monster was dead, the sooner we got out of here.

Away from the temptation of Greer Baird.

“Maxim? Maxim?” Nothing. His dark head stayed bent over some metal and wires.

I thumped my fist against the workbench.

His head jerked up, annoyance on his face. He had a small device over one eye, which I guessed was filled with specs and info.

“What?” His voice was terse and grumpy.

“How’s it going?”

He turned off the small multitool in his hand. “It would go faster if you didn’t disturb me.”

I was used to Maxim’s temperamental moods. “I need an update.”

My friend flicked up the eyepiece. “Fine. It’s coming along.” He pointed to a metallic, spherical device about the size of a basketball, resting on a stand on the workbench.

I frowned. “It’ll generate enough power to fry our monster?”

“Yes.” Maxim’s gaze slid away from mine.

I sighed. “What’s the catch?”

“It needs to be inside the creature for maximum effect.”

My mouth flattened. “Inside? We need to get it to swallow it?”

“Yes.”

“Jeez, Maxim, that won’t be easy.”

He shrugged. “That’s your job. I’ll design it, you find a way to get it inside the creature.”

I rubbed my brow, feeling a headache forming. “Fine. When will it be ready?”

He leaned against the bench, crossed his arms, and narrowed his gaze. “In a rush to get home?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Why?”

“Because.”